Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Dec. 29
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - DEC. 29 (PDF format)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Juan’ya Green • Hofstra
Jr., G, 6-2, 195 - Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll
Green averaged 15.0 points, 10.5 assists and 7.0 rebounds as Hofstra split two games last week. The junior guard recorded the first triple-double in Pride program history with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in an 88-62 victory over LIU Brooklyn on Sunday, and also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 assists against La Salle last Tuesday. Green has four double-doubles and his triple-double is only the sixth in Division I this season. He leads the CAA in assists (6.8 apg) and ranks fourth in scoring (17.6 ppg).
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Elijah Bryant • Elon
Fr., G, 6-4, 225 - Gwinnett, Ga./New Hampton School
Bryant averaged 19.0 points in Elon’s victories over Kennesaw State (67-65) and Marist (69-64) last week. The freshman guard poured in a career-high 25 points and dished out five assists at KSU and followed with 13 points versus Marist. For the week, Bryant shot 50% (13-26) from the floor and from 3-point range (4-8). He leads all CAA freshmen in scoring with 12.5 ppg and has tallied double figures in 10 of his 13 games.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE OPENS ON SATURDAY: Conference play in the CAA gets started on Saturday with all 10 teams in action. For the first time since 2004-05, teams will play a double round-robin 18-game slate where all schools meet each other at home and on the road. The schedule gets off to a busy start with four conference games over an eight-day stretch between January 3-10.
THREE FRESHMEN TOP 20-POINT MARK: Three freshmen topped the 20-point mark in games last Monday (Dec. 22). Elon guard Elijah Bryant poured in a career-high 25 points as the Phoenix rallied to beat Kennesaw State. Towson guard Byron Hawkins contributed a career-high 23 points in a 61-56 setback at Navy. Delaware guard Chivarsky Corbett netted a career-best 21 points in an 84-81 loss at Robert Morris.
CLIMBING THE 3-POINT LISTS: Three CAA players are climbing the career three-point lists at their respective schools. William & Mary senior guard Marcus Thornton has made 253 career treys, which ranks second in Tribe history behind only David Schneider (278). Delaware senior guard Kyle Anderson has 223 career threes, which ranks second in Blue Hens’ history behind Mike Ames (228). Elon junior guard Tanner Samson ranks sixth on the Phoenix’s all-time chart with 182 treys and needs 18 more to pass Chris Chalko for fifth place.
SOLID STARTS: As the non-conference portion of the schedule comes to a close this week, seven of the CAA’s 10 teams have .500 or better records. Northeastern (7-4) had seven wins before Christmas for the first time since 1981-82 and had its best 10-game record since 1985-86. Hofstra (8-4) matched its second-best nine-game start (7-2) as a Division I program. Elon (8-5) has won six of its last eight contests. William & Mary (6-4) is a perfect 5-0 at home this season. Towson (7-5) got off to its best eight-game start at the Division I level (7-1). James Madison (7-5) put together a six-game home winning streak from Nov. 17-Dec. 7. UNCW (5-5) had its best eight-game mark (5-3) since 2007-08.
CAA IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: CAA teams are 55-58 (.487) in non-conference play. Of the 58 losses, 18 have come against teams from the Power 5 conferences, including six teams who are currently ranked in the top 25 (#2 Duke, #3 Virginia, #5 Louisville, #6 Villanova, #17 West Virginia and #20 Ohio State).
MORE ON THE NON-CONFERENCE NUMBERS: CAA teams have played only 45 of their 113 non-conference games (39.8%) at home and the league is a combined 30-15 in those contests. CAA teams have also picked up 16 road victories and are a combined 9-7 in neutral site games.
CAA RANKED 17TH AMONG DIVISION I CONFERENCES: The CAA is ranked 17th out of the nation’s 32 Division I conferences according to the latest RPI report produced by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com) through Dec. 28. Northeastern is ranked #110 in the RPI while UNCW is ranked #117 and William & Mary is #121.
W&M’S THORNTON ON NATIONAL TOP 10 LISTS: William & Mary senior guard Marcus Thornton ranks fourth among active Division I players in career 3-pointers made (253) and he’s seventh in career scoring (1,712 points). The CAA preseason Player of the Year ranks third in the CAA in scoring (19.3 ppg) this season and has hit 30 treys.
CAA TEAMS AMONG TOP 25 IN NATIONAL STATS: Several CAA teams ranked among the top 25 nationally in various statistical categories through games of Dec. 28. Hofstra is 2nd in Division I in 3-point FG percentage (42.5%), 8th in 3-pointers per game (9.8 pg) and 16th in scoring offense (81.1 ppg). William & Mary is 21st in 3-point FG percentage (40.2%).Northeastern is 22nd in free throw percentage (74.7%). Towson ranks 13th in rebound margin (+9.5 rpg). Elon is 22nd in 3-point FG percentage defense (28%).
MCGLYNN LEADS NATION IN FT PERCENTAGE: Towson junior guard Four McGlynn was 3-for-4 at the free throw line at Navy last Monday, continuing his near-perfect accuracy. For the season, he is an incredible 58-of-61 (95.1%) at the charity stripe, which currently leads the nation. Last season, McGlynn led the CAA and ranked sixth nationally in free throw percentage at 91.3%.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR TOWSON’S DAVIS: Towson sophomore forward John Davis leads the CAA and is tied for 17th in Division I with six double-doubles this season. Five of them have come in the past eight games, including 10 points and 10 rebounds against Georgetown and 11 points and 14 boards at Temple. Davis is averaging 9.9 ppg and leads the CAA in rebounding with 8.6 rpg.
HOFSTRA’S 3-POINT THREATS: Hofstra features two of the nation’s top three-point threats this season. Junior Ameen Tanksley is shooting 53.7% from beyond the arc, which ranks fifth in Division I, and he’s 32nd nationally with 3.0 threes per game. Sophomore Brian Bernardi is 14th nationally with 3.3 treys per game and he’s 13th in 3-point percentage (49.4%). Feeding them the ball is junior Juan’ya Green, who is 9th in Division I in assists (6.8 apg) and 13th in assist/turnover ratio.
For more CAA men's basketball news and notes, click on the link to the full release above or check out the
Men's Basketball Notebook on our Hoop Scoop blog.